Monday 3 January 2022

Colder weather has not deterred the Song Thrush at the leaf yard, which was singing fit to bust. Several others could be heard in other parts of Kensington Gardens.


The rowan trees on Buck Hill are beginning to run out of fruit. There was just one Redwing when I went past.


Tom sent a fine picture from Rainham Marshes of a Redwing eating hawthorn fruit. Here in the park we don't have enough hawthorns, and the fruit is already gone. However, more are being planted, and some are growing from seed on Buck Hill.


Another picture from Tom, a female Kestrel on one of the light wells at the Rainham visitor centre. She is now a regular and the people have named her Kirsty, not that she knows or cares.


The Peregrine on the Royal Lancaster Hotel ate a Feral Pigeon.


The combined efforts of two pairs of Peregrines, a pair of Sparrowhawks ands four large gulls don't make the slightest difference to the teeming mass of pigeons. In Kensington Gardens they meet to socialise and bathe on a fallen concrete block in front of the Peter Pan statue.


The female Little Owl on Buck Hill gave the camera a sleepy glance before settling down in the leaves.


On a bank holiday Monday there were quite a lot of people on the outside tables at the Lido restaurant. But only a single Starling had noticed and turned up to look for scraps.


A young Herring Gull ...


... and a young Lesser Black-Back are just beginning to get adult light and dark grey feathers on their backs. The Lesser Black-Back is slightly darker, smaller and more delicate than the Herring Gull.


A Mute Swan on the Serpentine hauled itself into the air.


Even in the fairly crowded places on the edge of the Serpentine, if there is a pair of Egyptian Geese near a lone goose, they will call and chase it away. The female quacks, the male makes a hoarse panting sound.


A male Egyptian Goose tried to mate on the sawn-off top of a tree, and fell off. Nothing was hurt but his pride.

2 comments:

  1. The very definition of "silly goose!".

    I wonder what are the reasons to name a bird one human name or another. I recall a very famous and tame Black Stork here popularly nicknamed "Choni" (pet name for the female name Asunción) because her leg ring read C/HN.

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    1. Many bird names in English contain or contained a proper name. Sometimes the name is all that has come through, sometimes it has been dropped, sometimes both have survived. Robin Redbreast, Jenny Wren, Jack Daw, Mag Pie.

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